Hazelnut Project

Last year I participated in the Hazelnut Project of the National Arbor Day Foundation. Participation requires you to plant three hazelnut seedlings, then report in the fall (and subsequently) on their growth. Well, my three seedlings died a horrible death last year. Overwatered, I believe, and planted in clay-like soil. Then, I learned at hazelnuts hate having wet feet, so this year, when I received my new seedlings, I planted them in a more favorable environment (I hope). I also created a more shallow basin around each seedling, so not as much water pools around each one when I water.....every other day since it began to get hot.

I don't know yet how they're doing, except that the tiny little trunks have not rotted and broken off at the soil line as they did last year. No leaves yet, but I think I see some buds along most of the trunks. Pretty hard to see buds on trunks that are tinier than an average No. 2 pencil, but I have high hopes that the little bumps I see are in fact leaf buds.

No photos yet. Not that they're camera-shy, but last year I proudly posted photos of each hazelnut only to have my hopes dashed when the seedlings died. I felt like a murderer.

I highly encourage anybody to contact the National Arbor Day Foundation and join the Hazelnut Project. Why, you ask?

Here's what The National Arbor Day Foundation says about the project:

"Planting these three hazelnut bushes may well be the beginning of a new age of agriculture in the United States....a system of woody agriculture that will supply food staples from domesticated woody perennial plants.

"When this system is adopted on a large scale, these more photosynthetically efficient plants will produce abundant food, significantly lower the use of chemicals, and substantially reduce the loss of soil so commonly associated with the production of annual cereal grains.....Woody agriculture will help feed a hungry world, provide employment, keep topsoil intact and waterways clean, give a home to wildlife, and even help reverse global warming......"

Why wouldn't anyone not want to participate in such a program?